While the ?Super Six? final was happening in Atlantic City, New Jersey, this past weekend between Andre Ward and Carl Froch to determine the world?s best super middleweight, in Cozumel, Mexico, another bout featuring a pair of 168-pounders, Librado Andrade and Donovan George, was scheduled for the right to face IBF beltholder Lucian Bute. It figured to be a fun, back-and-forth slugfest between two heavy-handed and aggressive bangers.
Only the fight never took place.
It turned out that the ring set up by the local promoter at the Froilan Lopez Baseball Field was too small for the liking of George?s handlers.
?The ring was 15-by-15 [feet]. My contract said that Golden Boy would use its best efforts to get a 20-by-20 ring for the fight,? said Leon Margules of Warriors Boxing, which co-promotes George alongside 8 Count Productions. And yes, they examined the dimensions. ?I went in the ring with a tape measure,? he added.
When asked if he felt Golden Boy, which represents Andrade, was looking to gain an advantage by – excuse the pun- boxing them in, Margules responded, ?What do you think?? before adding, ?To their credit- or to their detriment- I don?t know who?s fault the ring was. They blame the local promoter and apologized to me. They did not try to pressure me to stay in the fight.?
According to Robert Diaz, who was on site for Golden Boy, ?What happened was we were in Cozumel. It?s a very small island here and that?s the only thing he was able to get.? ?He,? in this case, was the local promoter, Pepe Gomez. ?I mean, it was to nobody?s knowledge until we got there to the venue that night. I got to the venue; I walked in there with Abner Mares and I got approached, ?Hey, we?re not fighting. It?s a small ring.? I said, ?What do you mean?? We looked; everyone else fought in it. It didn?t look small but obviously, yeah, it was small. When they measured it, it came back 15-by15. It was a surprise to everyone. I went over to the local promoter and I said, ?Hey, you couldn?t get anything bigger? Is there anything we can do right now to extend it, to make it bigger???
It was at that point that Diaz and Golden Boy matchmaker Eric Gomez got on the phone with the IBF to discuss the matter. According to Diaz, Golden Boy does not own any rings in Mexico and relies on the local promoters and venues to provide them. According to Margules, ?The IBF was on site with a supervisor who looked at the contract and said, ?It?s your option. We will stand behind you.??
According to the Association of Boxing Commissions, the smallest ring should be no less than 16-by-16. Tim Lueckenhoff, President of the ABC since 2001, explained, ?That?s measured inside of the ropes. That?s what?s on our website and on our regulatory guidelines that the federal law requires that we maintain. Most of the states follow that same measurement. So basically it would be 18-by-18 if you measure the outside of the apron, if you measure on a two-foot apron.?
